Tracking the Tigers with MLB.com beat writer Jason Beck.

Results tagged ‘ Adam Everett ’

JUPITER, Fla. — The Tigers lost, 1-0, to the Marlins at Roger Dean Stadium. But manager Jim Leyland isn’t too concerned with the offense at this point, considering some of his best hitters are playing in the World Baseball Classic. The pitching, on the other hand, was dominant. One day after yielding 12 runs to the Yankees while walking 10, the Tigers’ pitching staff didn’t walk a single batter while surrendering nine hits.

* Nobody pitched better than Rick Porcello, who started the game and tossed three shutout innings. A lot of it was thanks to a great sinking fastball, which got him five groundouts. “Tonight, I think he showed a lot of poise,” Leyland said.

* Bobby Seay, Brandon Lyon — who gave up the only run — Freddy Dolsi and Clay Rapada combined to pitch six innings of one-run ball, giving up four hits while striking out seven.

* The Tigers struck out 11 times, however. “We just have to do a better job of putting the ball in play and making people handle it a little more,” Leyland said. “[Sunday] it was too many walks, and too many times tonight we swung and missed or didn’t swing.”

* Adam Everett had the only multi-hit game for the Tigers, going 2-for-3 from the leadoff spot. That’s a good sign for Detroit’s shortstop, who had injuries plague his previous two seasons and was 2-for-16 going in.

* Here are some pregame thoughts from Leyland on the World Baseball Classic: “I think it’s
doing a lot for like Venezuela, the Dominican and those places. How much it’s
really doing for the United States, I’m not sure. I think it’s really good for [people in other countries]. They’re really
into it. I mean, they’re taking it like it’s the Caribbean World Series or
World Series, which is great.”

JUPITER, Fla. — Jason Beck is going to be off a for couple of days, and I, Alden Gonzalez, will be your tour guide while the Tigers face the Marlins and Cardinals on Monday and Tuesday at Roger Dean Stadium. It’s 4 p.m. ET now, and I see Detroit’s bus just pulled in. Manager Jim Leyland is expected to give a more definite timetable today on when Jeremy Bonderman (shoulder) will pitch next — I’ll update you on that as I get it.

Jim Leyland pretty much confirmed that thought process Saturday morning. He has shown a talent for sacrifice bunts in the past, 22 of them in 2004 alone with the Astros, but I don’t think that’ll factor big into the Tigers’ plans. Brandon Inge will hit eighth.

There wasn’t really much media time for the Tigers on the second and final day of their winter caravan, certainly on their local bus. However, there were a few tidbits that came out of some of the events, including the stop at the Henry Ford.

Dave Dombrowski acknowledged the idea that the Tigers haven’t been in the conversation among the AL Central contenders. He kind of likes that. “I think that’s good if people look past us. I think it’s a mistake. And in some ways, I hope they do, because you can sneak up on people.”

Dombrowski on the makeup of last year’s lineup compared to what they have now: “We almost had an All-Star at every position. … And it’s apparent it didn’t work. Sometimes you have to change the mix.”

The longer the caravan rolls on, the stronger pitching coach Rick Knapp’s comments seemingly become about pounding the strike zone. He gave the pitching staff a vote of confidence Friday, but he also emphasized the point that a repeat of last year’s control woes can’t happen. “There’s no reason for us to lead the league in walks. There’s absolutely no reason for that. We want to come out and set a precedent. But with the stuff our pitchers have, there’s absolutely no reason to lead the league in walks.”

If there’s a question and answer session at a Tigers stop, it’s a safe bet the question will come up of who made the biggest impact on a player’s career growing up. Most players say their parents. Adam Everett gives a nod to Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter, who happens to be a family friend. He was also a mentor and instructor for Everett growing up.

Given the news on Freddy Garcia’s deal with the Mets, it’s worth noting that the Tigers had minimal contact with Garcia’s agent on a deal as the offseason wore on. The club seemed to decide early on that it would at least pursue different options.

Former Tigers minor league reliever Ian Ostlund will be part of spring training with the Cardinals. He signed a minor league contract with St. Louis early in the offseason.

I booked my flight for spring training today. That’s neither here nor there — well, it’s out of the weather here and down to some warm sunshine there. But given the winter we’ve had in Michigan, it felt good to do. Hopefully some of you get the chance to make the trip down to Lakeland.

Hope to see some of you at TigerFest on Saturday. It’ll be cold, colder than today, but at least no snow.

One year deal expected to be at $1 million plus incentives. I know it’s been discussed plenty since the news came out a week ago, but it pretty much sets the positional roster. Plus we’ll get a better idea how Everett and Santiago will mix.

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